Twisp and Omak Meeting Summary
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Twisp Meeting Summary May 14, 2019 Chair Jerry Litt opened the Twisp meeting at 11:00 am with introductions by Commissioners. Commission Business Commissioner Tortorelli moved and Commissioner Jennings seconded the motion approving the April 16, 2019 meeting summary. The motion was approved unanimously. Reema Griffith then gave a status update on adding new members to the Autonomous Vehicle Work Group Executive Committee, as described last month. Roger Millar, Secretary, Washington State Department of Transportation, expressed concern about the lack of representation from additional interest groups, particularly non-car centric groups. Secretary. Millar suggested the Commission consider up to 45 members. Chair Litt said that 30 members (doubling its size) is expansive, and that 45 may be unwieldly. Commissioner Restucci is sympathetic to Secretary Millar’s concern about representation, but has concern about the Work Group growing too large to be effective. ACTION: Commissioner Batra moved approval of the addition of the two additional members: Joe Rutan, Whatcom County (Washington State Association of Counties) and Brenda Wiest (Washington State Labor Council). Commissioner Jennings seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. Transportation 101 Paul Parker, Deputy Director, Washington State Transportation Commission, gave a 5 minute version of Transportation 101, an overview of Washington’s transportation system. Transportation 101 City Transportation Issues, Challenges and Successes Soo Ing-Moody, Mayor, City of Twisp, talked about the evolution of Twisp and the Methow Valley from a town and region based on extraction industries to arts and culture tourism. Twisp has a state highway as main street, splitting the town and causing land use and safety concerns which Twisp is seeking to address with an Economic Revitalization Master Plan. Sidewalk construction on state routes includes very expensive requirements. The required frequency of expansion joints becomes a problem when they’re damaged by sand damage, creating a safety hazard and causing city maintenance costs. Salt also is an issue. 1 May 14 & 15, 2019 Twisp is looking at adding islands for crossing the highway. It is difficult to meet hazard criteria for grants in small towns. The town has established a Transportation Benefit District (voter approved sales tax TBD), but it is not sufficient to cover maintenance costs. Twisp is seeking a speed limit change from 50 mph to 35 mph, and pushing the current zone of where it slows down from 60 mph farther out of town. Current criteria do not support this much of a change for a small, rural town. And they do not support the mobility goals for Twisp and like-sized towns. Keeping the speed at 50 mph also creates higher costs for a proposed gateway. Mayor Ing-Moody also reported that fires are a major hazard too; there has been a fire in the valley every year but one since the major 2014 fires. Fires create additional related problems such as slides. The fires demonstrate interoperability challenges, though the upside has been the communities coming together to be prepared. Representative Goehner sponsored an emergency management center – construction begins next year. Rural broadband also is on the list of critical infrastructure, and Mayor Ing-Moody sees it as critical for transportation as well. To improve rural infrastructure, we need to be innovative to support solutions and save lives. Sally Ranzau, Mayor, Town of Winthrop, said that her town has 465 year-round residents, but its population expands to over 5,000 residents with tourism as the driver. SR 20 goes through the middle of town and with its historic/western themed downtown, Winthrop seeks to be more walkable. The highway cannot expand there. Its proposal includes satellite parking and a river walk as an alternative to walking through downtown (ADA compliant). Winthrop used Complete Streets funding for the study. Now, funding is needed for Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to move the highway at a pinch point to allow access to new trails. They don’t have the cost estimate yet. Commissioner Tortorelli referenced the poor shoulders used for bicycle traffic outside Winthrop (except up to the pass). Mayor Ranzau reported the town is seeking to improve options for bicycle travelers to stop and store their bikes. Also, Twisp and Winthrop are working on a grant to improve the connection between the towns. Secretary Millar encouraged working with the legislature to support funding levels. Great that they’ve developed plans and funding comes to plans, from his experience. Successes and Challenges Action: None. Follow-Up: Secretary Millar offered to engage on additional options. County Transportation Issues, Challenges and Successes Andy Hover, Commissioner, Okanogan County, reported that Okanogan County is roughly the size of Connecticut. Today it costs about $1 million per mile to pave roads and 50% of the county roads are unpaved. The county’s’ road budget is about $13 million. 2 May 14 & 15, 2019 There is one short-line railroad in the county, and its cargo is close to no longer being moved by rail. This means a very heavy reliance on the rural road system. Chairman Litt noted that in discussions of equity, we often don’t speak to underserved communities in rural communities vs. urban communities, and further, the definition of rural often groups in a very broad range of densities. Commissioner Hover added that the broad range of rural definitions contributes to the lack of funding for truly rural, low density communities with truly limited access to services. He is partly exasperated by funding criteria and formulas that treat all rural areas the same, resulting in funding being prioritized for denser and higher traffic rural areas (ex. average daily traffic measurements). A “Lifeline type criteria” is needed. Josh Thomson, Public Works Director, Okanogan County, reviewed Okanogan County road statistics and funding. Bridges must be 20’ long or more to meet federal funding and state bridge funding requirements, this excludes many rural structures, including bridges over small or seasonal streams. We also have been advised that the worst slope stability happens 7 years after a fire. Okanogan County is approaching that soon following the fires of 2014-2015. The RCW describes a primitive county road as “Unpaved, local access and less than 100 ADT.” That means no standards to meet and no liability. Also no funding. But there are Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) salmon passage requirements, and other state drainage requirements that we must comply with. Mr. Thomson also supports enabling a federal funding swap with WSDOT, as Commissioners supported in the 2018 Annual Report. It did not happen this year because every WSDOT dollar was allocated instead of being programmatic, so WSDOT could not find a way to put it forward this year. Other states which swap (ex. Oregon) do not have this limitation. Secretary Millar agreed and added that federal money that is received but not appropriated must be matched with state money, which comes out of same state funding bucket. He also noted that the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials is working to address fire funding challenges at a multi-state level. Okanogan County Drainage Action: None. Follow-Up: None at this time. Economic Development and Transportation Don Linnertz, Executive Director, TwispWorks, reported that people are seeking sustainable growth in the Methow Valley. TwispWorks was a U.S. Forest Service ranger station that was closed. In 2008 it was converted to a rural economic development hub with $1 million in seed funding from a grant and local funding. TwispWorks is the resource for economic vitality in Methow Valley. It has been an advocate for the smokejumper base, rural broadband and childcare. It has sponsored Methow Made marketing and the Methow Investment Network which has a major overlap with transportation support. 3 May 14 & 15, 2019 From Mazama to Methow, 46% of housing stock in the valley are second homes. They are shifting from a waning resource economy to a vision for a diverse, healthy economy that includes tourism and importers. About 800,000 to 1 million visitors come through the valley each year. Pretty evenly split between the North Cascade Highway when open, and the other two routes. Our current workforce includes 37% of employees working from home, but still needing transportation capacity. The median incomes range from $37,000 or so in Twisp to below $50,000 in Winthrop to $80,000+ in Mazama. Access aging infrastructure, and communication between multiple agencies are primary transportation challenges. Highest priorities: public safety, advocacy for effective forest health programs, infrastructure spending, and coordinated communication. Employers say it is hard to find people to work and employees say it is hard to find places to live to work. Methow Housing Trust has started to support new low-cost, workforce housing for service workers. But many people are living in Okanogan and Omak, etc. Transit service is used and helping, but for some the service doesn’t start early enough in the day to be effective. The vanpool program has helped. It is primarily non-employed residents who use transit. Methow Valley Priorities Action: None. Follow-Up: None at this time. Emergency Response and Preparedness: Primitive Roads Network Josh Thomson, Public Works Director, Okanogan County, discussed a map of the county road network. Emergency response in Okanogan includes getting stuck in snow off the road and accidents on hunting trips. You have to plan around variety of events, including cattle drives and festivals. Mr. Thomson noted that most roads that are shown as stopping continue as dirt roads, primitive roads. 585 miles are designated as primitive. The Forest Service likely has more miles of roads than the county. WDFW, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Colville Tribe also have roads in their jurisdictions.